The vaccines were first used in a limited trial during the 2014-16 West Africa Ebola outbreak
The Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ghana Health Service (GHD) have described social media reports about an outbreak of Ebola in Ghana as untrue and misleading.
The health agencies, in a joint statement, denied the reports which claim that health authorities in the country are trying to suppress information about an Ebola outbreak.
“We want to state emphatically that the report is false and misleading and that there is no such incidence of Ebola in Ghana,” the statement signed by Dr Anthony Nsiah-Asare, Director General, GHS said.
He further stated that the disease is a highly infectious condition such that when there is an outbreak in a community, there is no way the national health system can keep it a secret from the public.
“The health system is in a global community and mandated by International Health Regulation to report all such conditions if they occur,” he reiterated.
The health agencies stressed that since the reported outbreak in DR Congo, the surveillance system has been intensified, including the points of entries, to detect any case should it occur.
“We will plead with the media and the general public to be advocates of good health and allay fear and panic,” he added.
The latest statement by the International Health Regulation Emergency Committee on the Ebola outbreak is of the view that the epidemic in Congo DR is a local outbreak and has not met the conditions for a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.
There is, therefore, no restriction on trade or travel, however, countries are encouraged to strengthen their preparedness to address any public health emergency.
Meanwhile, health authorities in Congo DR yesterday began the distribution of an experimental Ebola vaccine in Mbandaka, a major city.
The vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, will likely be distributed to some 8,000 to 10,000 people in its first phase, Peter Salama, deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response at the WHO, said.
So far, 26 people have died in the outbreak in Congo DR, according to the WHO.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri